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Silicon Valley Investors Call For California To Secede From the US After Trump Win (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: As Donald Trump's shock election victory reverberated around Silicon Valley late on Tuesday night, some high-profile technologists were already calling for California to secede from the United States. The broader west coast is a stronghold for the Democrats, and significantly more politically progressive and racially diverse than large swathes of central U.S. California is also the biggest economy in the U.S. and the sixth largest in the world with a gross state product of $2.496 trillion for 2015, according to the IMF. The campaign for independence -- variously dubbed Calexit, Califrexit and Caleavefornia -- has been regarded as a fringe movement. But support was revitalized by influential Uber investor and Hyperloop co-founder Shervin Pishevar, in a series of tweets announcing his plans to fund a "legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation" -- posted even before the full results were in. A few hours later, Hillary Clinton conceded the election to Trump, and Pishevar told CNBC that he was serious about Calexit. "It's the most patriotic thing I can do," he said, adding that the resulting nation would be called New California. "We can re-enter the union after California becomes a nation. As the sixth largest economy in the world, the economic engine of the nation and provider of a large percentage of the federal budget, California carries a lot of weight," he said. Pishevar was supported by others in Silicon Valley. Angel investor Jason Calacanis said that California succession would be simple in the wake of both Brexit and a Trump win. Evan Low, a Democrat serving in the California state assembly, said that he'd support the introduction of a bill to start the independence process. The proposal illustrates the technology industry's frustration with Trump over his repeated criticisms of Silicon Valley companies. Trump has said in the past that he would make Apple build computers in the U.S. He also thinks Amazon CEO "Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post to exert political power and avoid paying taxes, and claimed that Mark Zuckerberg's push for specialist immigration would actually decrease opportunities for American women and minorities." In July, 145 technology leaders wrote in an open letter about how "Trump would be a disaster for innovation."
This is a little dramatic.
It's different when libtards do it. They're the right people doing it for the right reasons, racist!
I'll be these same people pointed and laughed when Texans said the same thing.
Actually, most of them were in favor of Texas seceding.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
It has to suck after you make all these of those "donations" and get nothing back in return.
If California becomes a country, presumably one with an open southern border and an H-1B peonage system of its own, it would have to implement some form of defense department. Would it have electric dirigible aircraft, wind-powered missiles and a Department Of Hugging It Out?
You pushed for Clinton, even though Sanders was a better candidate. What did you expect?
Be seeing you...
Trump would throw a wrench into their cheap labor and displacing jobs. Threatens their business models.
" despite living off of incredible amounts of tax assistance and infrastructure."
= You have no idea of the math involved. SV has contributed many hundreds of times more than it has received in government assistance, unless you have your official GOP calculator handy with some actual facts. Compared to the GOP's pet coal/oil industry or almost anything else, SV has been wildly profitable per invested dollar. You're ridiculously uninformed, but that appears to be in fashion now, good for you!
Shervin Pishevar, born in Iran. You know going forward with this idea he is only helping to strengthen trump's supporters idea that we are being invaded by Asians, Latinos and middle-easterners that care nothing about our history or country??
And reports of teargas being used on protesters in Oakland!
It's going to be a long night.
(After weeks of being told to accept the election outcome, anything else is an attack on democracy. Sheesh!)
Of course the whole US back then had a population less than California today.
The working-age male population in the South was worse than decimated.
It turns out that it is easier to secede from the Soviet Union than the United States. The Hotel California can never leave.
*RANT ON*
Its getting tiring, this shrill end of the world, he/she said something bad so I have to cry now nonsense. I could say something coherent about words not hurting but i'm ranting so another time.
And then, when I read an article like this all I can think about is 'them'(and if I wasn't ranting I would say all people who dont get their way, not just 1 side or another), saying 'BOO HOO, we didn't get our way so now we are going to kick down the sand castle and take all our toys'.
Sound like a bunch of smug self righteous children, grow up.
200+ years of history and not everyone got their way every time, sometimes you have to play the long game and put in the real work.
*RANT OFF*
That felt good, thanks for listening.
California is a NET CONTRIBUTOR to the federal government.
For the typical /. reader, this means Californians pay more in federal taxes than they get back from the federal government.
Somebody has to pay for the food stamps all those met addicted red state degenerates receive.
A United States Congress without the wacko democratic representatives (Pelosi) and senators (Feinstein) from California in it can only be a massive improvement for the rest of us.
Let California secede and try to pay for all of it's socialist programs and "porous borders" through it's failing tax base and deficit-ridden state budgets. How long will that last?
Pay??? You do realize that California, along with almost every other democratic stronghold, contributes huge amounts of tax money to poorer states? Californians would have significantly more money on their budget, enough that they'd be able to implement their policies and probably cut taxes at the same time. I agree though, if the west and northeast coasts succeed, we'd all get an opportunity to finally see how the two parties float their sides, and I personally wouldn't mind to see my taxes support my own state, not some farmer in Nebraska.
"Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
I can't believe what gigantic babies they are. What, did they expect that for the rest of their natural lives, that they would win every single election, ever? Apparently so.
And now, that their side lost, instead of moving forward, they are bawling like infants and want to quit. We saw this with Brexit as well. Highly educated people, professionals, and they just pitched a shit-fit because they lost. I couldn't believe the rage that Ph.D's were capable of. But they sure can lecture everyone else about how we have to accept it when things go their way.
Democracy is awesome.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Wait though, it's not "Californians" who are calling for secession, it's a handful of crybaby tech billionaires.
If you supported Trump kindly go fuck yourself, and I'll take the moderation results of this post. If not then I apologize to you, but not the man who decided to run a campaign based on sowing as much hatred as absolutely possible.
This is what happens when you run that kind of campaign.
We didn't protest when Barack Obama was elected. Twice.
Here's some observations about the protests:
You're being manipulated.
California is the 8th largest economy in the world. Jesus Christ the political right is populated by some real halfwits.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
You're aware that California grows 2/3 of the US crops?
You must mean 2/3 of the crop species. California only produces about 11% of the food grown in the US (by value) and has more than 12% of the population. Iowa has less than a tenth as many people and produces more than 2/3 the crop value that Cali does. 'You', or rather the state you're in, produce a variety of fruits and veggies. But the grain and grain-fed meat that make up the bulk of what people in the US eat comes from the Midwest.
Yes, I get it. You don't like Trump. I don't like Trump either.
There was a lot of bluster and bitching but Texas didn't really try to secede from the Union when Obama was elected or re-elected and they dislike Obama as much as you dislike Trump.
Stop throwing a fucking tantrum and grow up.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
A better plan would be to break California into multiple smaller states (say 10) based on population centers to increase the number of left leaning US Senators.
Can't do that.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
As another poster mentioned, it's been done with West Virginia, but I think California would have much bigger shit than the law to deal with if it split off:
- Most of its essential resources come from neighboring states. Hell, Arizona alone (which Californian politicians often scoff at) provides California with 25% of its electricity. I'm curious how Silicon Valley would deal with that. Perhaps draw more power away from the more rural regions and charge them more money? Speak of which...
- Most of the landmass of California is in fact very red. They'd probably be able to take the major cities with them, but I can pretty much guarantee that the majority of the residents outside of those areas wouldn't be on board with this. But what do we need all of those rednecks for right? Well, you need farmland and farmers to eat.
This shit needs to just stop. Every god damn election there's this stupid talk about either going to Canada or seceding, and it's all a bunch of stupid bullshit, and I'm sick of it.
Besides, Shervin Pishevar is a first generation Iranian immigrant. Coming over here and then just demanding that we split up the country just because he doesn't like its politics is a real asshole move, and it's exactly this kind of asshole attitude that got an asshole like Trump elected.
Hell, Arizona alone (which Californian politicians often scoff at) provides California with 25% of its electricity. I'm curious how Silicon Valley would deal with that.
We'd probably turn the nukes back on. San Onofre has been sitting idle for half a decade now. We'd probably invent new nuclear reactors, too; get some molten salt thorium reactors up and running. Barring that, Mr. Musk lives in Cali, so maybe we'd just get Solar Panels on every roof and batteries in every garage. Or turn to tidal, since we have all that coastline to play with.
Most of the landmass of California is in fact very red.
Most of the landmass of EVERY place is very red, because that tends to be the space without any people in it. Either farmers (as you point out) with a single family living on 100+ acres, or far far right conservatives living in the boonies of the deserts or high up in the Appalachian mountains with all the guns they can muster and the nearest neighbor 10 miles away. Liberals tends toward cities and other people, where they make things like computers, medicine, solar panels and interracial porn.
This signature is false.
This secession talk is a wee bit childish. Here's what Hillary Clinton had to say this morning about a Trump presidency:
"Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
I hope her supporters take a cue from her and start behaving with some class and dignity.
This. And in my honest opinion, if the 1% are in panic then it's a good thing
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
And they're the same ones that were pushing Hilary so hard, instead of someone who might have won for the Democrats. The Republicans put up the least popular candidate that they've ever run (and one who did worse in terms of received votes than their last two candidates). All of the opinion polls during the primaries showed that any one of the Democratic candidates other than Hilary would have easily won. So the DNC, backed by a lot of Silicon Valley money picked the one candidate who only had a 50:50 chance. Well done guys: you are responsible for Trump winning, you don't get to run away from it.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
"California is one of ONLY 3 states to give more to the US federal government than it receives."
Not even close. https://visualeconomics.credit...
California is one of 17 states, not just 3, that gives more than it receives. California ranks 8th among those 17. It is not one of only three, it's not even in the top three.
"You'd better do some research."
So should you.
Fucking hell guys, no wonder racism and sexism is so rife over there. A lot of you guys seem to be most interested in figuring what group a person is and then using that alone to determine friend or foe. It's akin to two little kids in the park both shouting "no, you're the poopypants" That's how the rest of the world sees it. Fucking cut it out and grow up. For the good of all of us.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
It's an issue because CA has blocked up-river reservoir projects that would let the up-river states retain more of their share of the water for their use as guaranteed by the compact. But if CA left the Union, we could reduce the outflow at lake Powell and again at lake Meade and severely curtail the flow of water to CA. At that point the water could go to Nevada or AZ for use, and CO could then go ahead with their reservoirs and thus use more of the water which is mostly from CO UT and WY Mountains. Also AZ could grow more produce with more of the water thus replacing what CA has been growing.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
Silicon Valley can just threaten to cut off the US's Netflix, and the whole thing will be over without a shot being fired.
You are welcome on my lawn.
>I wish the voters had picked a different agent for change.
Obviously they picked Agent Orange.
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BMO